My Resume Needs More Substance

[Neurotic Student]

I feel I don't have enough substance on my resume. Nothing stands out and I haven't done anything to stand out. I'm not in any nursing organizations and I haven't won any awards. I don't have extra certs.

All I have is:

Name/contact info

Education-BSN, school name

License/Certs-CPR, MAB

Clinical experiences- probably going to cut out??

Work exp-3 mos job doing LVN home health duties then 1 yr psych RN (no prior job before those)

Volunteer exp (all 2yrs old and one-time stints)- most are not healthcare-related, should I still keep this?

What should I take out? What should I add? Should I add an objective? I feel like those are "fake." Please help! Thanks! I am trying to get into acute care hospital medsurge but open to specialties that allow me to focus my learning but nothing with the words "intensive," "critical," or "emergency" yet because it's too much at this time. Open to telemetry, ortho, stroke, etc.

[CocoaLoverFNP]

Any leadership experience? Awards? Preceptorship experience? Mentorship? Languages? I would add a summary of qualifications instead of objectives (if objectives make you feel uncomfortable).

I would actually eliminate volunteer experience that are not related to the job i'm applying for. However, keep this information if you truly have nothing else to write. Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Sent from my iPhone

[Neurotic Student]

I don't have any awards or mentorship. By preceptorship, if I was the preceptee then yes, we all did it in my clinical experiences, but no I haven't been a preceptor.

Should I cut out my clinical experiences? I graduated 2 years ago. I feel like an old new grad.

[SarahMaria, MSN, RN]

I wouldn't put in clinical experience if you have already been working for one year as psych RN.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Ok, there has to be something :) Great attendance? Letters of appreciation from families or patients? Employee of the month?

Did your unit work on any measurable quality initiatives, and did you participate? Help with any process improvements? Did you work extra when called?

Volunteering is a good thing, it shows altruism, and 2 years ago is recent enough. Leave out the clinical exp, as previous poster said.

You have to see yourself positively and promote yourself when you interview. If you go into an interview thinking "I'm nothing special..."

guess what? The job will go to the next nurse who believes in him/herself with fewer qualifications than you.

If you lived in my town, we would go have a mani/pedi and a pep talk. :)

[canigraduate]

When you were a psych RN, did you receive any kind of work recognition? Patient appreciation notes? Documentation awards?

Highlight the skills that your employer is looking for. Go on their website and see what their mission, vision, and values are.

I use a "Professional Profile" as a sort of summary at the top, rather than the objective, which doesn't help the employer any.

Here is mine (which has been edited for anonymity):

Caring, compassionate, dedicated, and team-oriented registered nurse with over X years of experience. Excellent in time management with superior organization skills. Able to prioritize and handle multiple tasks successfully. Known for taking on additional responsibilities. Adaptable to new situations. Focused on providing excellent patient care and a positive patient experience in a cost-effective manner.

Then I list my credentials: XXX license #1234567, ACLS, BLS, etc.

Then I list my work experience, with important stuff highlighted in a bullet:

AGENCY NURSES, INC.

Sometown, Somestate Start date - end date

RN

• Provided nursing care for critical care, step down, medical, surgical, orthopedic, Spine Institute, and psychiatric patients at Awesome Health hospitals.

• Received excellent” rating from several supervising RNs.

• Supervised and educated student LPNs during clinical rotations for Amazing Career College.

Here's one for a regular hospital position:

NEURO/TRAUMA ICU, AMAZING HEALTHCARE

Sometown, Somestate Start date - End date

RN

• Provided care for critical care patients suffering from neurological injuries and disorders, trauma patients, as well as general critical care patients.

• Managed care for unstable patients receiving full support including ventilation, medications requiring titration, and continuous dialysis; transported critical patients to necessary diagnostics.

• Floated to other critical care units as necessary.

• Received recognition for excellence in documentation.

• Served on Nurse Council, Retention Committee, and Birthday Crew.

Odds are, you have plenty of awesome stuff to add on your resume, you just don't know it.

[Neurotic Student]

I definitely need help identifying my merits. I have never called off work, I do stay to help work extra sometimes. I don't get long thank you letters but I get some thank you's here and there from patients/family.

When a new quality initiative is put into place, the whole hospital has to do it. It's usually just a new assessment form we'd have to fill out. It's usually not elicited but we give feedback on what should be changed on the new form.

I actually thought I was going to be fired from this job, my first RN psych job. I told myself to work hard and if I got fired, well then that's the end of it for me. Then coworkers would say "yes! I'm working with you!" I'd be dumbfounded and ask why they say that. They'd say because I actually do things. Funny, I thought of myself as just doing my job.

I used to float around filling in for regulars on their day off/or vacation. The regular charge nurse of one of the unit left for another job one day and the regular staff there put in my name to work there as the charge nurse. I thought it was crazy because had never even worked with them before! FYI charge nurses in my hospital are actually just regular nurses, not really in managerial position. Giving us that label makes patients/family think we have so much power but we don't. We just "oversee" the tech and LVN on the unit. We report to our supervisor.

I don't have anything fancy or special to put in my resume is all I mean. I have no awards. I'm not apart of any organizations. I just have qualities that I feel will help me at work. I think I'm hardworking, learned customer service from watching the way some of my coworkers work (since this was my first real job, I started out pretty awkward), willing to help out others and my team in their duties, and willing to help out other patients who are not in my unit/assigned to me. I generally work well with others because I focus on working, I don't really gossip with others. I'm reliable and consistent, I show up to work everyday, and if there's something I didn't do or should do/error, I make sure it won't happen again. I ask questions and am willing to learn. I love to learn different ways of doing things too. I learned so much from this first job, it's my first real job ever, not just first real RN job. I learned how to work with coworkers, patients, and doctors. I just didn't really learn much about the things they taught you in nursing school. I also was surprised to learn how much I cared about helping out my team and making a patient feel comfortable in this new environment. I'd try to orient them to what they can do/what things they can ask for so they feel less trapped in a locked facility.

[Neurotic Student]

Thanks canigraduate for sharing your resume. I'm trying to fix up my resume before the job fair in my city this Saturday. It has the major acute medical hospitals in my area. It would be great if I could get a new job without having to relocate but I'm willing to relocate.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

I have never called off work, I do stay to help work extra sometimes. I get some thank you's here and there from patients/family.

coworkers would say "yes! I'm working with you!"

I'm hardworking, learned customer service from watching the way some of my coworkers work willing to help out others and my team in their duties, and willing to help out other patients who are not in my unit/assigned to me.

I generally work well with others because I focus on working, I don't really gossip with others. I'm reliable and consistent, I show up to work everyday, and if there's something I didn't do or should do/error, I make sure it won't happen again.

I ask questions and am willing to learn. I love to learn different ways of doing things too. I learned so much from this first job, it's my first real job ever, not just first real RN job.

I learned how to work with coworkers, patients, and doctors. I also was surprised to learn how much I cared about helping out my team and making a patient feel comfortable in this new environment. I'd try to orient them to what they can do/what things they can ask for so they feel less trapped in a locked facility.

...Read your own words, friend. I think you just wrote a beautiful resume